“Every time I touch the track it’s pressure”

Sha’Carri Richardson once opened up about staying motivated even after accomplishing qualification for the Olympics. She reflected on this following her qualification in the 100m for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

After her qualification, she raced in the 200m preliminaries, which she comfortably won with a 21.99s run, topping her heats. She was then asked in a post-race interview (via NBC Sports) whether there was less pressure while running the 200m, having already earned her 100m Olympic spot.

To which, Sha’Carri Richardson reacted while opening up about how she takes every opportunity seriously, adding:

“Absolutely not. I feel like anytime I touch the track, Olympic trials in Claremont, LA, wherever I’m at, anytime I touch the track is opportunity for me to work on my best self, be my best self. So, every time I touch the track, it’s pressure.”

While Richardson went on to win the semi-finals dominantly with a 21.92s, she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the USA’s 200m team at the Paris Olympics by finishing fourth in the finals, running a time of 22.16s.

Notably, it was Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown, and McKenzie Long who emerged as the top three athletes at the trials in the 200m, occupying the top three spots with times of 21.81s, 21.90s, and 21.91s. Thomas and Brown then went on to win medals in the discipline at the quadrennial games, taking home the gold and bronze.

Sha’Carri Richardson opens up on after last-place finish at Prefontaine Classic 2025

Sha’Carri Richardson expressed her thoughts following her race at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic. Although she didn’t have an ideal race, finishing ninth in the 100m with a time of 11.19s, she shared that her primary goal was simply to run a healthy race, and she was happy to have achieved that.

In a post-race interview, she said (0.08 onwards):

“Definitely the only motivation that I had that I had today was having a healthy race and the fact that I execute a healthy race knowing that now I have the time because I do have the bye being the world reigning world champion. All I have to do is just keep pushing and focusing in on practice. So I’m super excited to just finish. I pray for a healthy race. I got a healthy race. So, I accept that.”

The race was won by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who clocked a remarkable 10.75s to finish ahead of Paris Olympics gold medalist Julien Alfred, who placed second with a time of 10.77s.

Before competing at the Diamond League event in the USA, the 25-year-old raced in the 100m at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix, where she finished fourth, also her 2025 season opener.